I was walking down the street here in Austin, TX…..and noticed this little Shoe Hospital:
Here’s some pics of it:
I live nearby…..so I’ve walked by this place probably 500+ times……and the only thing I’ve ever noticed about it was this dinky sandwich-board sign:
All it says is “SATURDAY SPECIAL! 1/2 price heels no limit!”
I have no idea what that means.
So I got to thinking…….
“How can I make this Shoe Hospital street sign get more random people in their doors?”
One of my favorite copywriting exercises is to “mentally re-write advertising” I see in the real world.
So my first step was to analyze what was wrong with the street advertising this shoe hospital was already doing:
“What is wrong with this advertising?”
This is what’s going through my head when I see the shoe hospital’s advertising:
1.) I have NO CLUE what the hell a shoe hospital does!
The guy who runs the place told me, “We’re a shoe hospital….we fix shoes!” ….but I’m just Joe Schmo who’s walking by this place, I don’t know what the hell a shoe hospital does!
2.) They mention they “repair shoes” which means NOTHING to me.
You have to show me some real examples of shoes that got fixed!
3.) Tell me “1/2 price heels”….but I dunno what the service is!
This shoe hospital desperately needs to SHOW me the service they do.
One of the biggest sources of retail traffic is random walk-in’s.
So having bad signage is a serious problem if you are a brick & mortar business…..because you’re losing a percentage of ALL the people that walk by! That’s free customers you’re losing!
A random dude walking in may spend $50 on his 1st visit. BUT that doesn’t end his relationship with you. He will come in time-and-time again. His LTV (Lifetime Value) might be in the thousands.
In the short amount of times I’ve visited this shoe hospital, I saw purchases from $50 to $200+ from ONE VISIT. I was blown away, I had no idea what this place does, yet there were people dropping hundreds of dollars per visit.
The owner of the shop said he gets on average 8 – 10 random walk-in’s per day.
Let’s make this a conservative estimate, and say only 8 random walk-in’s come through per day.
With this estimate, let’s figure out what this Austin Shoe Hospital location is missing out on:
Let’s do some quick & dirty math:
8 walk-in’s per day.
300 days per year open for business.
=======================
8 x 300 = 2,400 walk-in customers.
Now…..through re-doing this sign, let’s say we increase the amount of walk-in’s to 15 per day.
15 walk-in’s per day.
300 days per year open for business.
=========================
15 x 300 = 4,500!
Holy shit….that’s 2,100 extra customers per YEAR just because we improved the damn street sign from 8/day to 15/day!!!!
Now let’s see what those 2,100 new people will be worth at different average purchase prices:
- Average purchase is $35….at 2,100 customers = $73,500/year
- Average purchase is $50….at 2,100 customers = $105,000/year
- Average purchase is $65….at 2,100 customers = $136,500/year
- Average purchase is $80….at 2,100 customers = $168,000/year
- Average purchase is $100….at 2,100 customers = $210,000/year
This doesn’t take into account repeat business!
Out of respect for the Austin Shoe Hospital, I will not publish that sensitive info…..but you can easily extrapolate that simply making a better sign can make an extra tidy profit! Giggity.
I asked my friend Jude who runs DowntownAustinBlog, to do a quick analysis of this shoe hospital at 8th & Congress here in Austin, TX.
The foot-traffic estimates are based off some old 2010 data that was collected, and during a regular workday this shoe hospital is estimate to have 700 – 1,000 walk-by’s per 8-hour workday.
That would mean their current signage is converting at around 1% of walk-by traffic (remember, they get about 8 walk-in’s per day with the existing signage).
So I would like to get the Austin Shoe Hospital from about 8 walk-in’s per day…..to 15 walk-in’s per day.
“How can we get from 8 per day…
…to 15 per day?”
Well my first thought was to change that damn sandwich board sign!!!
The primary psychological things I wanted to happen were:
1.) People on the street would intensely look at the board and process it.
2.) There should be a call to action on at least ONE side …..telling the person to come inside the store.
3.) I wanted to clearly explain what the shoe hospital can do for YOU…..with simple images.
This was easy enough because the Downtown Austin Shoe Hospital website had plenty of before & after shoe pics like this:
All I had to do now was steal some of their before/after pictures and mock them up in Photoshop.
Fortunately I’m a guy with WAY too much time on his hands, so I know Photoshop reasonably well (mainly for making dumb stuff like this):
…..anyhow, I took a bunch of the images from the shoe hospital website and made two mockups.
Neither of them were exceptionally clever, and honestly I didn’t care. So long as people looked at the BEFORE/AFTER pics and think in their head, “Oh….maybe I can bring in my old pair or shoes and make them awesome again!”
That’s all I wanted from these boards:
Sandwich Board Mockup #1
Sandwich Board Mockup #2
Notice how Mockup #2 says, “Ask inside what we can do!”
That was done on purpose to give people an excuse to go inside and say, “Hey what do ya’ll do??”
…..it also helps the owner track how many people are coming in through the sign.
Getting the sandwich boards made:
The next step was to actually make the damn things. A standard sized sandwich board is 24″ X 36″ ….and I found out at the local FedEx/Kinko’s they do these for about $60 per sign (plus tax).
So turned my Photoshop files into regular .jpg files and submitted both designs to Kinko’s.
In about 6 hours I got back a giant flat box (people on the street thought I was holding a giant rectangular pizza!) and the signs were ready:
The signs in all their glory. $156 after tax for both:
You can see for scale how big these are:
Photoshop File to Real Life in 6 hours!
Proud of my work:
Delivering the boards to the Austin Shoe Hospital:
Prepping the sandwich board sign holder:
Affixed to the stand:
One last goodbye before my baby goes out into the working world:
See any changes from afar?
The new sign working hard to bring in new walk-in’s!
Telling people to come inside:
Now people can SEE what the Shoe Hospital can do for them!
We could see people constantly glancing at the sign. That didn’t used to happen:
Hopefully 2x the amount of people come in because of this sign. The goal is 15 walk-in’s per day:
My theory is these signs will starting working immediately on a small scale (already a small uptick in walk-in’s the very first day).
But the real value is when all the people that normally walk by this location walk by SEVERAL times. I’d say this will take between 7 and 21 days.
SO ALREADY THE SIGNS ARE WORKING!!!
Crazy how just a small change like this can improve a business.
Download this whole post:
Click the book to get on the list and have it delivered to your email as a PDF eBook:
P.S. I want you to comment on either A or B:
A.) How many walk-in’s you think these signs will bring in per day (current is 8 per day).
-or-
B.) How we could re-do these signs to bring in more walk-in’s. Lemme know!! I might actually be making more of these signs for this experiment…
UPDATE: This experiment results in literally an overnight 50% increase in new-customer walk-in traffic!
Hi Nevelle,
I found it really interesting, What a great idea to promote business ” A shoe Hospital”. Quite amazing. Just imagine, most of time i think no one will think to repair their favorite shoe destroyed. I am a blogger but till now I didn’t really think to promote my blog with street marketing. I read your post and find it interesting like how images of before and after shared by you. Will try implement idea of my business too.
Thanks & cheers!
Well we have a similar concept here in India.. One old man did that shoe hospital so at first i didn’t want to read it but when I checked in it was great.. I’m learning a lot from you that too for free (for now) I think current walk in increases to 15. Also we can add that we take full care of our patients (shoes) and also put a red Cross for hospital.
Neville it is no doubt that your improvements will double the shoe doctors business. However, I am a Realtot in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. I think creating a marketing letter to get people to call to list their home for sale is a much bigger complex problem. Looking for people wanting to sell, not renters looking to by as most can’t afford a house.
Workers who love their worn in (but worn out) boots would love something like this. (speaking from experience, new boots don’t feel right, but the old ones well…nails and dirt do damage)
I wonder how he could get in front of or advertise to all those guys at a good time?
Oh and only way I would try to improve would be to change up the headline maybe to “How often do you look at your feet?” (implying hey! LOOK YOUR SHOES COULD USE SOME WORK) – maybe even with like a face of someone inquisitively thinking, “man…it’d be super awesome-sauce if this place could make ma shoes like that other sign!”
Great post and experiment!
Firstly, someone needs to redesign their CI.
Great read. Visuals are always important and a good CTA is a must. I would’ve just added a punny headline for some added humour.
‘We’ll revive any sole!’
“Shoes sick?
Let us ‘heel’ them!”
– Austin Shoe Hospital
Hey Neville!
Thanks for the case study. I love them.
However, I have a big problem with this particular occasion: I understand everything he meant except for heels stuff.
I mean – how can you not understand what “shoe hospital” mean? You cannot do anything in the world except for fixing those shoes. The name is creative, but far from being unclear…How can I become a copywriter if I don’t understand that people may not get such simple things? I am sorry, but I have a feeling, I have to write like a retard to a retard. That’s…terrible.
Secondly, what he means by repair is also clear like a sun in a cloudless sky to me. Have you never seen a broken shoe? Have you never had a broken shoe? Repair means it will be fixed and look better than it is and be wearable again.
But I also agree that by showing the before/after of shoes is great to prove your mastery and attract people.
Heel stuff…that’s the point that I would also like to see changed.
Hope to hear your thoughts on that. Thanks!
Max
Max some of this is about how people process things – processing language is OK, but processing visuals is often stronger and processing language and visuals is stronger still.
The goal is to make the message as simple as possible so people get it as they walk past. They aren’t necessarily paying attention to the shop at all and it’s easier to catch casual attention with a picture than text.
I don’t like the word retard. It’s quite offensive. It’s important to have empathy not just with the subjects for your copy but the world in general, and your post shows little empathy or accommodation for your fellow man.
Writing copy is the same in the comments as it is elsewhere, so get your message across in the best way possible and have empathy for those that will read it.
Max, don’t be silly.
Just by saying “Shoe Hospital” you immediately understood every single service he provided? Right.
Most people (including myself) understand they “fix shoes” to a degree, but most people will also not understand they can clean up worn out shoes, dye shoes different colors etc.
Hey man, imagine this:
4:30pm, I leave my job earlier to run some errands in the city center. My boss is pissed off, I am very stressed by the workload. I need to get to X office before 5pm. My wife calls me because our kid is sick. Someone stumbled upon me and and poured over coffee on me…
In a typical bad day (or even regular days) I don’t want to solve puzzles to understand what a random sign in front of me claim to be. I really don’t care how clever your wording is. “We fix shoes” is much easier than “shoe hospital”.
Sometimes it’s just about putting yourself in other people’s… shoes :)
Great description Yuyo!
If an advertisement is confusing to me, I almost immediately dismiss it because I have no reason to care. That’s why those visual boards we made are far superior :)
TA) from 8 to 20 paying walk in customers daily.
This was an extremely cool thing. Also looked like fun. Y’know turning someone’s business around by using what he already had, but making it better in simple ways. I can look out for stuff like this too. Opportunities are all over the place.
Thanks Mister
Question A) I think the new signs will double the current # of cold foot (no pun intended) traffic or 16 new customers per day.
Question B) How about considering a sign with all the good things that will happen to your feet once your have your shoes (and feet) repaired at the Shoe Hospital, such as:
– Lose fatigue caused by tired feet
– Lose back pain caused by uneven heels
– avoid ankle twists of old high heels
– Bonus: Socks repaired automatically (due to no holes in your sole)
Just some thoughts.
A) 30
B) Make only two before/after pics and leave more space for words. It would be a good thing to catch more attention by writing something like “Did you see this yet?” on top so when people subconsciously walk by and read it they are hooked for another second. It doesn’t take long to register the two before/after pictures under the line and then make the call to action like you did or switch it up, just for fun and write something like : “Bring ’em back from the dead” or ” Fix your shoes, they just might be in fashion next autumn/summer”
Hi, Neville!
I love everything I read here… the effort you gave in to produce all these contents are enormous. I’ve read almost all of your content and even downloaded some of your e-books… we’ll see how these stuffs help.
I’ll get back to you soon to report the results. :)
Thank you.
A. 15 – 20..
B. If you could add the time it takes for them to finish the job. Since time is essential to people and you are targeting walk ins.
A. 22
B: Making comfy shoes sexy again
“$ave $$ – Save your shoes!”
12
Great ! It would be great if you consider showing happy customers’ faces in the ad chart. I mean similarity brings more trust. Human – Human !
How about…
How much is you career worth?
Interview-Ready Shoes
Same Day Service Available
I’m not actually gonna read all the comments here, so..sorry if I’m repeating any of the ideas. Ok, let’s go:
B) ‘Your beloved shoes are passing away? Free consultation inside ->’
‘Wanna save your favourite pair? Come inside and let our doktors do their magic. ‘
‘Your shoes have been loyal friends. Don’t let them down. Come in and let us save them!’
‘You’ve been stomping on them their whole life. Now you’re throwing them away? Let us fix your shoes. ‘
Also: – the upper sign could use some work, it looks..dirty
– I don’t know if this is legal, but maybe some ambulance-like lights could draw some attention to the store
Have a nice day!
Hey, I got a Dan Kennedy sales letter last year in the mail and it was about 20 pages long. Despite all of the usual foul language that accompanies these “cool” types of sales letters, there were all sorts of grammatical errors and misspellings through the copy.
I guess it happens.
~Elmo
Neville,
Your site is my absolute favorite to frequent. I used to go the Neil Patel’s and Jon Morrow’s sites first, but they now take a backseat to yours.
You’re like the David Blaine of copywriting, you go into the streets and actually do this stuff. You simply lay it out in easy to understand terms and writing and add fun pictures. You ought to make videos like this too.
Man, that would be AWEEEEEESOMMMEEEE!
Please, keep them coming and don’t change your format.
Years ago, my favorite magazine was Mother Earth News. It had regular paper for the inside pages and the cover was the usual cover material for catalogs, but the artwork was done by common folk that were not high-end artists. They also had a huge classified section.
Then they changed it and went to the same format as all the other magazines. Slick pages, and a thinner magazine. Now I buy Backwoods Magazine because they are GENUINE.
So please don’t change what you’re doing because you are really connecting with folks like me.
I have never done a Pod Cast, but if I ever do one I’d love to have you as my first guest.
Thanks for a great site!
Elmo
Those damn signs?!?
You killed it Nev, great job. Very interesting article, will be pondering on it for days.
I’m going to say 18! A little over doubly because you nailed it!
A) 22
B). Use image that conveys ‘comfy like an old pair of shoes but looks like a new pair.
Or
image of embarrassing broken heel
Moment and glamorous restored sophistication.
Scruffy heeled shoes on a business man to immaculate presentation in a meeting.
Nothing to add here. I haven’t read all the comments, but I reckon you hit an average of 14/day as far as walk ins go.
Someone else suggested changeable signs, which I would definitely get behind for various seasonal promos and for split testing.
I don’t know if someone already suggested it (too many answers :)
50% or more of those who walks in front of the shop do that everyday. The shop-owner could take pictures of the worsts shoes that pass in front of his desk everyday.
Then, he may photoshop them and use it as a simulated Before/After case.
The thing is YOUR shoes will be showcased on the sandwich sign, which may induce a stronger connection with the benefit (or can rise the anger of pro-privacy guys)
No suggestions for improvement because I think this is brilliant! I know this was several months ago, I’m curious to see what the walk-in numbers are now vs. the 8-per-day they were before the new sign was implemented. Also, why leave the old sign out? The new one is such a vast improvement, I’d let it stand on its own. “Get to work, sign!”
I’ve stood on that very corner, watching buskers during SXSW. LOL. Love Austin!
Hey, man, good job on the sandwich board ad! Was there any possible opportunity for the shop owner to offer something for free? If you could get something like a free shoe-shine or whatever, it may have increased response. If he had flyers printed up that someone could hand out in front of the store telling people how to take better care of their shoes, that would be cool. On that ad, he could have coupons etc. Also, if he could give away something for free in exchange for the walk-in’s email, or address, he could have easily started building a great database of customers. Yeah, getting them in the door is cool, but what are you going to do after they are in there?
The list is gold.
Anyway, love your site. Thanks for the incredible inspiration, my friend!
Elmo
A) 14
B) Take a minute to see what we can do for YOU. (Bet we’ll have you out of your shoes faster than airport security!)
A)17
B)What about a picture of some ridicliously nice shoes that are beyoned bringing back from the dead with a caption like “They don’t sell these anymore” or “Visit the shoe doctor before it’s to late”
or even better maybe some ridicliously nice shoes that have been repaired with the caption “They don’t even sell these anymore”
Hello Neville:
Very interesting and informative case study. Thank you for sharing with us.
1) I would hope that the walk-ins would increase to 20 paying patrons a day.
2) Are flashing lights or LED lights allowed in Austin? Maybe red LED lights outlining the Red Cross symbol, or red/white flashing lights (like an ambulance) since this is a shoe hospital. Have the lights flashing either in the window or possibly attach to the hand-held signs. Attaching the lights to a hand-held sign would take a little bit of work, but it could be worth it.
3) I would add a financial amounts to the shoe advertising signs. For example: “Are your $500/pair of boots looking like this? (insert pic of worn out boots or boot soles) Restore them for a fraction of that cost. Come inside let’s discuss.”
4) Trying to think outside the normal box here….. “Do your feet look like this with a new pair of shoes? (inert pic of bleeding feet, blisters on toes etc.) Save money and your feet with new soles for your boots and shoes. Come inside and see what we can do for you….”
Thank you.
Chad
Excellent case study!
Thanks for sharing.
Best,
Mustafa
A) 12
B) Before & after are great. Add “FREE Tip Sheet: 5 Ways To Make Your Favorite Shoes Last Longer” Inside … Plus ask about our VIP Discount! (Inside they get their Tip Sheet & and can leave their email to join the VIP Discount Bonus Club).
Get’s the name out on paper. Builds their email list for mailings.
B) I would explain more benefites of repairing your shoes:
1 – time and money saved by not endlessly traipsing around finding another pair of shoes that fit at a price you like.
2 – environmental benefit, saving resources in production and shipping of new shoes.
3 – money saved, by investing in a higher quality footwear and repairing, the overall cost per wear is lower.
4 – Market shoe repair as a ‘shoe service’ much as you might get your car serviced thereby improving the look of your image and the durability of the shoes.
5 – Raise awareness of expert advice inside shop and specialist products available in the Shoe Hospital
6 – possibly brand the shoe hospital more closely with their name
That’s my inital ideas :)
B) All of the women’s shoes on your sign still have perfect heels. That’s ABSURD. The one problem most women have is not the flat part of the shoe, but the heel. That little black bit of plastic comes off, or the whole heel comes off. Same with my cowgirl boots. I destroyed the plastic part of the heel by walking in them so much.
True, it’s nice to get the tops polished, but without a good heel, it’s impossible to walk!
Both types of photos are necessary, and you only have one type.
One board has 3 pairs of heels and 1 pair of men’s loafers. Get rid of the picture of the men’s loafers and add another picture of a woman’s pair of heels.
There’s already 3 pics of heels on one side, why not make it 4… all heels. Have a “heels side” of the board and a “boots and loafer side.” 4 heels pictured on one side will drive up the numbers. Guaranteed.
OO [eyeballs looking down pac man style]
What are your shoes saying about you?
Refresh your shoes, costs LESS than new
Look your best. People notice
Please come in. We’d love to meet you
A. I’m thinking it would be at least 33 walk-ins per day.
:: 3 per hour x 11 hours.
B. A copy that says “SAVE your OLD shoes” (with the images you used) is the best I could think of. It talks about saving the shoes, but it also tells the reader that they can SAVE rather than buying new ones.
At least 8-10. As someone who thinks a lot about shoes, I would likely assume that “Shoe Hospital” is some kind of cobbler. But their original sign seems geared toward insiders – how does someone know what a heel special includes?? The new sign shows the difference they can make and would motivate me to walk in and ask what they can do for my favorite pair of pumps. Brilliant idea! Show > tell!
Many of these ideas are great to use. I think he could get more walk-ins if he used mobile ads today as more people are on their cellphones while they are walking past this Shoe Hospital. His ad could feature the same ad as what is on the sandwich board. His mobile ads could feature an about us button to learn more about them.
If the new signs increased biz by 25% that’s an additional 2 walk-ins a day. Every biz in America would like a 25% increase. Over 90 days I’d bet on 3 more walk-ins per day. “We fix The Hole In Your Sole” or “Shoe Surgeon On Duty”
I’m going guess that their foot traffic doubles.
A) I think you can break 15 for a full double at 16. Great stuff.
B) How about an imagination grabber like “What if your old shoes could look like this? Check out how inside.”
It’s a shoe hospital…right? How about an emergency room for injured shoes?
Wow really awesome work. That sign was just bad bad bad. Love how you actually get out there and get your hands dirty, awesome blog Neville!
Hi Nev, love this experiment. Have you got any updates? Were u able to measure the impact? I´m sure there´s plenty of folks who´d love to hear!
Thanks,
Dominik
Yes I’d love to know that too
+1
The suspense is killing me! How much did it improve?
What was the result of your experiment Neville?
50% increase in walkins every day!
B) get replacement shoes while yours are getting fixed.
This will remove the “planning” required to bring a pair from home. Lets people come in with what they are wearing *right now* as they pass the sign.
Also, if these replacement/temp shoes are REALLY GOOD (like mine, hint hint) the Shoe Hospital can usually sell those too for a nice profit. We have a B-Grade stock for exactly this purpose – demos and customer experience for in-store purchase – works in 90% of cases.
Hmmm, I wonder what percentage of the foot traffic is husbands who could earn brownie points at home by “rescuing” a wife’s favorite pair of shoes?
A) 18+
B) “Fancy some NEW shoes for a fraction of the cost of buying new shoes?”
“Shoe lovers! We can make your shoes look like this:”
“Spot the difference: New shoe [pics of new shoes on the left side] Our shoes [pics of repaired shoes on the right side]”
This is a great case study! I manage an Outdoor sign business and we sell these types of signs.
This type of information is a gold mine for my customers.
Hi man,
Just letting you know that I heard you on the conversion podcast from leadpages and was blown away with your web copy knowledge. Just thought I would drop in and take a look at the blog and this local business marketing post was truly brilliant. Just shows how any business can be helped by cleverly placed, strategic wording! Signed up to the newsletter. Can you point me in the right direction to getting your 10 buck ebook with templated copy strategies?
I think it should jump to 12 fairly quickly. Then to 15+ as people see it a few times and start thinking about what shoes they could have fixed.
B. Something about save your shoe’s life. Total recovery in 48 hours (or whatever their turnaround time is.
A. 20 approx
B. A real example of just one shoe in a ‘healed’ or ‘treated’ pair.
b)Attach old and new shoe on top of Sandwich board. So people SEE how the shop can give new life to old shoes.
Gonna go with 18 for A. For B, something tying into the Hospital name could go over well. “ER for shoes” or similar with the Before/After?
Add a limerick, mantra or phrase.
Like; Oi Oi Oi ! Tony Llama sez. We ‘heel’ Jimmy Choo! And Vibram too!!
Add a limerick, mantra or phrase,
Like;
Oi Oi Oi ! , Tony Llama sez. We ‘heel’ Jimmy Choo and Vibram too !!
Hi Nev,
I’m going to say 31 people will walk in per day, mostly during the lunch hour where they will ask about pricing and turn around. Then within two weeks, having that information they will drop off and pick up before & after the work day.
To make the signage better, post drop off times 6:30-8:30am. Or, add a free consult/assessment of your shoe closet.
WATERPROOF THE SIGN
(assuming it’s not already)
I can’t read all the replies (too many), so excuse me if this has been mentioned.
How about a plexiglass box with a pair of heels (target women?) in it, one that is old and one that is restored. Actually show them the real work.
I think 50% increase, so 12.
Affix to top of sign, maybe an arrow pointing up with a CTA/or attention statement.
Adding a price or price range under each picture so people know it’s worth it budget-wise to repair their shoes/boots vs buy new ones.
B) I think signs like that should attract more than just “walk-by” traffic. There are “drive-by” traffic as well. If the sign picture/text is not big enough, the drive-bys won’t be able to read it. I’d want to make the text bigger and just 2 pictures instead and have more pictures inside the stores as examples for the walk-by traffic. It’d create curiosity by showing not so much, and if you want more, come in to see.
B.)
Perhaps you will have fun with this comment in that you are hearing from someone who has made hundreds of signs by hand for a variety of companies.
1. You have talked about the value of simplicity – simple imagery – in many of your posts, and you are right…
Get rid of the photos. Replace with fun yet clear drawings.
2. Always talk about what they save, rather than anything
to do with percentages. Very few people these days
have the brain power to deal with percentages in their head.
3. The sign says “Shoe Repair while you wait.”
Eeek! No one wants to WAIT!!!
Talk about what they want.
Instead:
“We awesome your shoes in 30 minutes for $35!
Money back guarantee!”
Other ideas (guessing on prices)
“We caress your shoes for only $65 – Save $45!”
“We doctor your shoes for only $65 – Save $45!”
“Let the shoe healers change your life and feet for the better!”
“The Foot Angels.”
“We make your feet happy again!”
“Experience Austin’s #1 shoe repair!”
“Experience Austin’s Best shoe repair!”
“The shoe doctors are in!”
3. Make it fun and simple, but also clean and professional.
4. Here is an image I made up for you.
If you want the larger files, let me know.
http://christinemarsh.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Shoe-sign.jpg
Thank You!
Christine Marsh ~ R.C.V.S.E. – (Redhaired Creative Visual Solution Expert)
Awesome example of how something simple can be brilliant! And how amazing outcomes change when we remember to put ourselves in the customer’s “shoes” and make it easy for them to understand what we can do for them. Thank you!
Great experiment and great sign ideas from all. However, my take, based on the images provided, is that the shop is cluttered and daunting. My guess is that most of the potential clients are women and the owner should make the shop appear clean, organized and inviting. Kind a a dry cleaner approach with a small front counter with bright colors and the guts of the shop behind a wall unseen to clients. There should not be a disconnect between the clean message of the signs and the perceived service from the street.
How nice of you to do this for the shop.
B. You could be sexist and say something like: “Ladies! Think how happy your man will be when you fix the shoes you already have instead of buying new ones!”
a.) Foot traffic walk–ins from 8 to 24 with the new signage…
After years in retail, I’d say you’ll get a little jump of walkins say +25%. BUT, if you want to double it, you’ll need to clean up the overall message. Your new sign is great, but it conflicts with the others. The shop front needs an identity (read unified message). The idea for shoe shining offer is great, but FREE doesn’t put food on the table. Save your shoes idea is great too… Play up the “hospital” analogy that they have used for their name so that there is a real branding for the place. (if they have cash, they could paint the shop front to look like a “shoe emergency room” :)
What would happen if you would just put a picture of a nice looking shoe and write underneath it in big letters
“GIGGITY”?
I wonder what reaction that would have
B) the new sign you put in is awesome, and i love the fact you didnt have to work hard, all you did was take their own images and posted them so everyone could see!
i saw that the first sign is still out there, i think you should get rid of the first sign and put something up that describes not only what they do, but one that actually describes what is on sale.
for example: instead of 1/2 price on heels (i dont know what the reg. price is so how do i know what kind of deal i get) put down the original price for heels say $75 for heel repair (with a pic of broken heel) and a sale on that, whatever is good for the store. take out the line “no Limit” and instead explain what that actually means or write a call to action “Come in and check out some other amazing deals!!! (you can spell deals with a z “DEALZ” for some extra Pazazz… giggity!)
a) 17
B) I think you’re missing a portion of the AIDA technique. You’ve accomplished (A) through a compelling headline and visuals. You’ve accomplished (I) through challenging the customer to make a judgement call about how good the shoes look from before to after (similar to why we LOVE looking at before and after pictures of people). You’ve nailed the last (A) – asking them to come inside. I don’t know if you’ve accomplished (Desire) here. As a walker-by, my shoes may not be represented on the board or I may not think I’m the right customer. I suggest another line of text stating someone to the effect of, “Give your shoes a make-over” or “Brand new shoe looks without breaking your bank.”
Amazing business case Nev!
Also add a dark frame around your street sign, trust me this works but I don’t know why.
Add a few balloons to catch the eye of passersby.
Another eye catcher is a stand up sign that rotates with the wind.
The Shoe Hospital is going to be RICH RICH RICH and BUSY BUSY BUSY!
Great stuff, Neville! I think that walk-ins will increase to about 15/day.
On another note, I’m glad that the copy on your new sandwich boards is grammatically correct (unlike your article, unfortunately). It would have been terrible if you had used “shoe’s” as the plural for “shoe”, like you used “walk-in’s” as the plural for “walk-in”. I cringed every time you wrote “walk-in’s”. That’s over 13 cringes, which almost made me stop reading your otherwise excellent article. If I had read your article as a business owner, I’m afraid that I would not want to hire you to write anything for my business because your poor grammar is very unprofessional.
My tip for you would be to pay more attention to what you write. Maybe invest in a short refresher course in basic written English with regard to pluralization and contractions. For example, apostrophes are not used to make something plural (1 cat, 2 cats – not 2 cat’s). Apostrophes are used to indicate possession (the cat’s food dish) or a contraction (the cat’s asleep). Also, “Here’s some pics” is horrible grammar. Please consider writing “Here are some pics” next time. It will help people take you more seriously, I promise.
Thanks for the good information and entertaining case study.
It is incredibly tempting to be impolite. Try to resist.
I think (unless I’ve missed something in the long list) the human touch is missing.
It’s all about shoes, but it should be about shoes and people.
How about an image of a woman/man/woman and man holding up their shoes and some copy such as “Shoe Hospital saved my shoes. Why not save yours?”. They could be barefoot with loads of shoes scattered at their feet.
If regulations allow, even a full size standup, or a fill-height poster in the window. To be fair, the show frontage and interior is dark and uninviting.
I’d add hospital style imagery on the boards. Nothing to big that it takes away from the shoes, just something to tie back to the business name.
I also agree with Nigel Garner’s comment about the shop front. I love black, but that store front would suit swords and armour better than shoe repair. If they do spruce up the store front, those colours could be incorporated into the signs (including the one above the store that is in desperate need of a wash) to tie it all together.
Tieing it all together might then allow the signs to be moved a little way away from the store (if the council rules permit), or a second set of signs, so potential customers get the chance to see them twice.
It’s a shoe hospital right? So why not something that plays on that using imagery. Kiss your shoe boo boo’s better! Admit them to the shoe Hospital and get them back good as new! Or something along those lines. lol. Sorry, not great at this but that’s my suggestion to throw in the pot.
Oh I forgot to mention that a repainted shop front is well overdue. Lose the dark forbidding cave entrance and go for some lighter shade of something modern looking – I appreciate that may take some time and money but I’m not sure if I would want to go somewhere like that unless it was a pub/bar.
Some really good suggestions here. My first port of call would be to try and work out if the walk-bys are always the same people. I presume you’ve been doing some on the spot analysis from your comments – if so did you see the same faces all the time?
If not then you need to think about how they’re going to remember the shop (name, place, contact details etc). Even those that are regular may not have time to stop for more than a couple of seconds.
So how about producing some A5/A6 flyers that people can grab from a carry basket on the sandwich board – that way they’ve got something to take away and digest. I’d suggest something bigger than a business card as that’ll get put in a pocket and forgotten – a flyer will be something that pin up at home or put on the front of the fridge to remind them to come back. I’d also add the web address and any promos so they know where to go to do their research.
On that note (I haven’t looked at the website) why not collate feedback from customers and put it online so prospects can see what people think of the shop? Don’t make the mistake of putting all glowing reviews on – people just don’t believe all-positive reviews – it’s got to be real.
While I’m on my soapbox ;-) why, if Saturday is the busiest day is he offering the best deal? Surely to manage resources he should offer the best deals at the quietest time of the week?
Lastly how about a before and after shot but with an estimated cost and time to wait “in just 30mins & under $70 your boots could got this to this” – just a thought.
I agree with others above who mention how attached people get to their shoes. It is more than an emotional attachment – it is one of comfort. Especially so of leather shoes which stretch and shape to accommodate your feet. When you have a great pair of shoes that have taken a while to “break in”, why would you want to give up on your “partners in perambulating”? Shoes are your “walk mates” and you don’t give up on them.
A. 14
B. MAKE YOUR FAVORITE SHOES NEW AGAIN
People occasionally become really attached to a pair of shoes, ergo wear them a lot, ergo they get tatty and worn and end up in the cupboard not thrown away, like a fond memento.
I really love/d those shoes, don’t want to throw them away.
Make them new again? Hell yes.
Bring it on.
It’s a small but emotive segment — a card worth playing for a week or two every 2-3 months I’d guess.
Happiness!
Hi Neville!
I’d love to see the follow up post from this! I’m on your list, hopefully it will go out after the first month?
Thanks!
Nick
A) 14 (being conservative)
B) How about a question like, “Are your shoes looking like this?” or “Are your shoes suffering from scuffitis?” Playing off the hospital theme and of course, using the photos. Being a photographer, LOVE the photo idea but I hope they were high res enough to look good. Web photos don’t make good print photos and bad images = bad image.
Great post Nev!
I’m going to say 20 walk-ins per day.
A: I’m going big, I’m going to say 30-33 new walk-ins
B: “Bringing life back to your old soles”
gotta play up the Hospital bit.
revive, etc. is good – “CLEAR!” – paddles, the whole thing.
shoe makeover, re-purpose, ‘shoe-therapy’.
people spend maybe 100x on keeping their faces and body ‘young and supple’ – why not $50 on the shoes that you love?
good shoes should last ~ 20 years with regular attention.
Great concept.mi might only use 2 comparisons on each side for larger visuals.
Another thought would be to set up a webcam at POS and ask customers to record a short testimonial about the services they have just received… blog it… FB it… whatever it.
I like this project, it makes a lot of sense :-)
A) 37 New Walk Ins!
I would go to a nearby thrift store and pick up a couple pairs of really disastrous shoes (better the shoe guy does that, he’s smarter!). Clearly label one of each pair “I Was”, the other “I Am”. Super-refurbish each “I Am” and mount the pairs on each side of your sandwich boards.
I think 14 per day
One of the comments above spoke about having a group of men’s legs showing off their shoes. An adjustment to that, having all of the shoes be scuffed and worn, except for one pair which was shiny and new looking. The tagline would be, “We’ll help you stand out in the crowd.”
Also, a tagline that would go with the business name could be, “Your shoes need 10cc’s of repair work. STAT!” (Most people know the terms from TV medical dramas. Or perhaps something like, “Don’t let your shoes flatline! Get them repaired here!”
Another thing to think about would be having a “split” picture of the same shoe both prior to repair on one side, and post repair on the other side. Kind of showing the 2 shoe before/after images, but having it more blatant to the eyes.
I hope these make sense.
B) Bigger Font and CTA. Possibly use all CAPS instead. ie. “WE’LL FIX YOUR SHOES!” or “REPAIR YOUR FAVORITE SHOES!”
Two examples is enough and gives you room for larger CTA.
Add a CTA at the bottom such as “COME RIGHT IN!” or “STARTING AT JUST $9.99”
A: 18
I don’t think offering free shoe shines is an efficient use of his time (unless he has a few staff on all the time).
B: I think having an instagram account with the before and after photos would be cool and have the account posted on the sign. It keeps the instagram account fresh and people walking by can check out the account later. It’s something that might remind people when they’re home to grab those shoes and bring them in.
A.) I know they did decent business with the shoe shine thing, but it wasn’t the bread and butter for sure.
B.) I’m skeptical of them dedicating their time to an Instagram account. It seems the offline marketing worked super-well for them already. I’d rather have them invest more time into refining that across multiple times than posting Instagram pictures.
Women’s high heel shoes often have a plastic piece on the heel. It doesn’t grip and women have fallen. It is common. I’ve had mine replaced with rubber heels. Much better. Also a cheap sole (not soal) can also slip easily so as a solution women scuff their new fancy heels on pavement so they won’t slip and fall.
So I suggest a ‘no slip solution’ to your new high heels and show a closeup photo of cheap and the better rubber sole /heel.
Could also include a ‘free’ comfort insert.
This would make all women fall in love and be forever grateful with the shoe hospital.
That might be a great next thing to try Carolyn!
A) This is such a big improvement, I’m going to say 21.
B) So many great suggestions already. What could I possibly add? This isn’t much, but did anyone already suggest extending the hospital analogy a bit with, “The Doctor is IN”, or “The Doctor will see you NOW.”
A.) Ended up being a 50%+ increase in walk-ins!
B.) Hahah, I like it, but it would be too “clever.” But great suggestion Michael!
a) 12 walk-ins per day. I totally agree that pictures make all the difference, even though I understand what a shoe hospital does the pictures makes you visualize what it could do for your own shoes.
b)The before and after pictures is the main success here but the pictures could be a bit bigger, I realize that you want to show different kinds of shoes but you have a tough time seeing the changes in the pictures from any distance.
Also, I’d say free estimates is a great way to get people in.
A.) The pic DEFINITELY makes a huge different rather than words!
B.) They were actually pretty big if you could see them in real life. The pictures don’t quite do it justice.
Epic post!!!!
I also think that they could do a lot with some branding here as well though.
But what an awesome way to win a client if you are a consultant.
Just do the work first and get yourself hired.
Thanks Mark! It’s funny because I didn’t even want payment, but they wanted to contract out more of the signs.
Here’s a few diamonds in the rough:
1) Picture of Jesus in New Looking Sandals….Underneath it:
“I’m not claiming to be a miracle worker, but I do save SOLES”.
Come In for your FREE 2 minute footwear assessment.
*I think the 2 minutes is important, because it sets a time-frame of convenience.
And then perhaps even..Resting on top of the sandwich board, one shoe that is beat to hell, and next to it the other that is newly restored.
1A) If you are going to push the 2 minute footwear assessment, perhaps a woman suggestively smoking a cigarette with the one leg bent up (like in the old movies when someone was getting a good kiss)”That’s the most satisfying 2 minutes I’ve ever had with my shoes off”…Come in for your FREE 2 Minute Footwear Assessment.
1B) Stick with me on this one…I think it’s worth trying. If you’ve ever driven down I 95 on the East Coast, you know where I’m going with this..Call it the “South of the Border” Approach.
A) Stand in front of his shop, look left and find the shops 200, 150, 100 and 50 yards away, do the same while looking right.
B) He strikes a deal to do the owner of the shops shoes once a month in exchange for this win-win deal:
C) Sandwich board with “Tired, Sore, Aching Feet? You are 200 (*150, 100, 50) yards away from The Shoe Doctor!” or “You are almost there! Stop in for 2 minutes!” Etc, Etc. All with before / after shots and clever puns.
D) The other side of the board (where they are walking away from the shoe doctor) has the shop owners sign. **Place the sign so it is win/win. i.e. foot traffic is already past your shop entrance, no harm in seeing my sign. from the other direction, foot traffic approaching, they are already past my shop, they get to see your sign.
E) If you can really strike a deal with the 50 yards away…”Save Your Sole!! Turn Around..You walked past the Shoe Doctor”
Austin seems like the funky kind of place where you can have some fun with this.
2) On some signs, try a Red Arrow pointing into the shop door.
It’s amazing how many people will at least glance in the direction that the arrow points, and that may be all he needs to make another $100 that day.
3) Not really sign related, but move his equipment to the front near the display window so that people walking by see what he is working on. (Social Proof that “Oh! People DO still get shoes repaired”). – Or even..”Oh! So THAT’S what he does.”
– I think 2-3 people an hour or 16-24 can be achieved, and 4-6 per hour or 30+ more people a day (Maybe not all paying customers, but they might buy a hat or some shoestrings!!) if the “South of the Border” goes into effect.
I stopped there, and have so many useless shot glasses, hats, etc just because of all the signs, I couldn’t NOT stop… Then it became a tradition. I stopped every time because I stopped every time.
Bahahahhahahahahahhahah!! 1 and 1a were my favorite!
Seemed to be the easiest to make and the most bang for the buck.
Amazing suggestions.
This is awesome. I’m really eager to see what kind of results the sign will yield!
A) I’m guessing 15.
B) You could throw in a line below the before/after photos saying something like, “X shoes healed this week!” with the number in bold or in a different colour (and, of course, changeable). Similar to the whole “X customers served today!” you see on restaurant signboards. I’m also really for appealing to people’s emotions and urging them to rescue their favourite footwear from certain death.
Hey Phaedra!
The result was about a 50% increase in walk-in’s.
Lol….I actually like your suggestion a lot! It would be cool to see “X shoes healed this week” and then show a single before/after picture.
Good suggestion!
Excellent read…
My guess about improved footfalls? Around 14 or so per day. Also, after a while, improved footfall conversion as well. So if 8 guys used to come in, and then maybe 3 DIDN’t convert into sales, now maybe 10-11 converts into actual purchases.
As far as suggestions, how about highlighting that old shoes can lead to discomfort (less shock-absorption, uneven heel wear, worn out inners). Donno if that could be pushed through without videos etc, but maybe placing a screen inside the store facing outwards, which will play videos of how things are better once you get your shoes fixed might help push up sales even after work-hours!
That sounds about wild!
That’s an interesting angle to take for the future. I think once people start realizing what the store can do, and that message gets out there, then another message about the benefits of good shoes can go out.
My answers (Though I dont expect them to be as good as yours)
1) Since your sign was more visual and lively, I’d expect an increase to about 20-25 MORE walk-ins.
2) I would use a similar concept as yours but I would leave the last shoe part blank and put a call to action in the form of a challenge. Something like “Bring us your most worn shoe and if we cant fix it, we will give you another pair for free”
Challenges like that will get people to get their worst worn pair which will get them alot of business. A Business is only known by its capability to handle worst cases and not the best. If they can fix eve the worst one, they will impress customers and guarantee a testimonial with a repeat business.
Maybe a referral campaign too. Give out your first receipt number to friends and family and tell them to quote it to the shop. Every 5 customers gets you free shoeshine and 10 gets you 1 free repair!
Hmmm….that could be maybe a more “advanced” strategy for later on. For now the easiest hanging fruit is to get people AWARE of the service!
1) – It would have been very nice to have known the actual foot traffic for the area to know what percentage he is currently getting with the average of 8 walk-ins a day. So, as crappy as his sign was, I am going to guess he will eventually nearly triple his current foot traffic, with much higher spurts within the 1st several months for people that frequent the area. I think after the big influx of traffic, he will have even more opportunity finding a way to keep those customers over the longterm.
2) – What you have done Neville is simply pure genius! When I was 1st reading your article I was very curious as to what you would come up with. Great job!
Short Term -In addition to what you have done, all of the following on a small table display:
-1st part: On the left side of the table, a regular 8.5″x11″ laminated free report ad stabalized on something to hold it up
– “Free Report Reveals 7 Little Known Secrets You Must know Before Buying New Shoes And Throwing Away Your Hard Earned Cash!” Perhaps some very small copy. Then a line saying “Ask inside for your free copy.”
– This report would of course feature his greatest sales pitch of benefits of using both the shoe repair to get them like brand new then the shoe shine services to maintain them. Would need to obviously cater to both sexes.
-2nd part: a weekly rotation of a real pair of shoes, one before and one after. He wouldn’t ever sell these. But would be a constant change up of something new on display for the people walking by to look at and maybe even look forward to seeing to what he has done next.
-3rd part: The bribe
“Free Shoeshine’s For Life When Used With Our Yearly Maintenence Plan!”
– Find out what the yearly and lifetime value of a customer is, and then decide on how he can couple his services to offer perhaps 3 differnt levels of plans per year for a AIO soluction. Instead of the Saturday only special, get a year long special for x number of visits per month and all kinds of benefits. Make the Bonuses better than the service they are signing up for. Maybe someone wants a daily shine, weekly, and etc. Perhaps a package that would be all enclusive for anything for that shoe. Maybe a package to cover more than one shoe. I’m sure you can come up with something pretty good with that, but those are my 1st thoughts on it. A good example that comes to mind are the hair cutting memberships.
Long Term – Other thoughts:
– I would gather their info so I could also do a print newsletter to at least the customers with memberships and his customers that give him 80% of his business.
– He could do a Dan K 3 step letter to everyone that comes in to get the free report
Hey Billy!
1.) We did figure out the foot traffic (800 – 1,000 /day)….so his conversion rate for random walk-in’s was 1%
2.) Glad you liked it! I had fun doing this experiment too :)
3.) I like the free shoe-shine idea. Might make sense for them to try that when people buy a more expensive service!
Go for the emotional play. No one cares about getting any old pair of shoes fixed. But we all have at least one favorite pair of shoes that you don’t want to give up on…..
“Let us fix your favorite shoes”
Good idea!
Apparently people have A LOT of favorite shoes, as they bring in like 4+ pairs each time!
A) 12 walk ins as an average
B) Change the strap line to ‘If your shoes suck, we give them a new look!’ Then combine this with the old\new comparison pics and possibly the ‘real life version’ that someone mentioned earlier.
Yup, I really like the real-version…..I think that would have a good impact.
However as a cheap tool, I think the sandwich boards provide the most bang for the buck (and also are easier to replicate at other stores).
A. If I were to estimate the conversion without some actual data, I would say they’d take about 12-15.
B. There’s a recent problem with old shoes, they’re not upgraded. Say, 10 years ago, they never thought comfort to be one of the assets of the shoes. I would recommend going to some additional changes to be made on he shoes like giving it some comfort foams or something and offering estimates or first-time for free. Another thing would be to make them check what they are wearing, it’d be a hassle for them to pick it up at their home just to have it fixed. Oh, how about free pick-ups?
12-15 sounds about accurate!
Actually it seems people REALLY are satisfied with how their shoes look after. I sent a pair of mine and for $50 they were like brand new (rebuilt soles and everything).
And imagines if you have $500+ shoes like a lot of women’s heels, totally worth a few bucks to bring em back to new!
A. My bet is 18
B. What are the store hours? Do people walk by when the store is closed? Is there anything to grab their attention? Are there signs on the window? This might be an opportinity to “warm up” new customers while the store sleeps. Maybe putting smaller format signs with the same copy as the sandwich signs on the window and adding the website and phone.
I hope 18!
The store hours are 7am to 6pm I believe, but I dunno if increasing store hours would offset the cost of keeping someone there.
That part of downtown gets relatively low foot traffic in non-working hourse.
Maybe playing with the hospital theme a little more. Something like a old shoe on a stretcher with a phrase like, “Come(or for alliteration sake inquire) inside, The health of your shoes depends on it!”
Hahaha, a lot of people like the funny hospital jokes. Might add one on the next board Farisha!
What about a strategically placed mirror so people walking by can see their shoes and reflect on the possibility of restoring them.
The mirror thing is a recurring suggestion, and I really think you’re all onto something with that :)
New walk ins @14 a day
Add a QR code. If they are busy walking to work or a short lunch break they can snag a shot to remind them to drop off shoes later in the week. QR code can lead them to a landing page of monthly specials, new products and a buyers guide for getting the best shoe value. Add a nice video of them reworking some shoes would be great for credibility and personality.
I’ve still NEVER used a QR code except to transfer Bitcoin :)
They actually have a video on their website:
http://www.austinshoehospital.com/video_gallery
I would add urgency:
-With the before/after pics add the copy “From busted to beautiful by 7 AM tomorrow…X spots left”. That X is a changeable number card to countdown the available openings for urgent repair work.
-I like what Jack and Tony said above about shoe shine services. To add some urgency, I would do half off (or value-added) shoe shine “happy hours” before work or during lunchtime. Oooooh…they could offer complementary drinks/snacks. That’s the value-add. ARGGH…I’m getting away from the copy….”Shoe shine while you wait. X seats open NOW.”
Quick question Neville…or anyone else…how do you do this without seeming like an ass? How do I approach a business offering this kind of copy help without the undertone of “dude, your sign sucks”?
Thanks, man.
Bahahhha, busted to beautiful, that’s great!!
NevBox-worthy Matt :)
I actually just approached them and said I could possibly get them more walkins by explaining what’s wrong with their signs.
They agreed to at least try.
Maybe show your potential clients this case study??
A: 15 seems about right
B: I would add one of those plexiglass boxes with flyers. Simple flyer, about the same as the sign (and yes, add an big red arrow with “Ask Inside” or something like that to the sign) with a COUPON (free shoeshine on purchase, Saturday half of heels etc.). People might not have the time or chance to walk inside at that minute, but because of the coupon, they’ll keep the flyer and return later. Plus you can actually check how successful something like that is. (how many copies are taken on a day, how many returned, etc.)
Hmmmm…..maybe put a $2 off a shoe-shine flyers? Good thinking!
A: 16
B: Can you make it easier to remember to bring shoes in? Hand out labels for postage or boxes or bags so you can post them or put them by the door. I would always forget to bring them out because I would stop wearing broken shoes. I’d remember when I walked past and then forget when I got home.
Hmmmmm, it would be cool to have little business cards or those tear-off flyer thingies by the sign to help people remember. Good one Ben!
Great post! As someone who is looking for a transition from my current job to something new to do you keep bringing me back to your Kopy writing course. I’m reading the Boron letters and plan on reading your other recommendations. Next stop, Kopy Writing Course. Thanks Neville, keep on teaching ??
Well, so very glad you like Richard!
Checkout the KopywritingKourse here to learn all I know :)
https://copywritingcourse.com/steal
Answering the second question about split testing ideas for the signs…I like your new sign content, and others have commented about different content ideas like benefits or using the word “free”. So far all good ideas.
But what about making the signs themselves more eye catching? Something like a red background or a black background (the white almost seems to blend in to the background too much in the picture).
I was going mainly for education on those signs, but the next one’s might make them “pop” more!
I’d say you’re spot on with at least doubling them. If that shitty sign brings in 8, I’m guessing 20 is not too much of a stretch either.
Solid work, can’t wait to see some updates!
I hope so Niklas!
I would put my money on board number 2, for two reasons. 1/ clearer images and less information to process and 2/ a clear call to action.
We’ll see! Both of them together seem to be working super well at the moment :)
First of all, I love how “A or B” became A AND B for some people. Or even 1 and/or 2… Hilarious.
Regarding walk-ins, it looks like the store is actually displaying BOTH signs so I bet the number will be higher, maybe 25. Two signs in a row will work even better than you planned.
Hahahhaha…..hey, I’ll take any and all suggestions :)
1). 13
2).15 min. Workshop on how to properly shine & care for beloved shoes @ scheduled times during the day ..maybe 3-6x during business hrs.—>after presentation offer Home “Express Shoe Shine Kit” readily available on your way out and packaged nicely.
Hmmmm, I wonder if that would work for this business. Seems like a “Advanced Level” marketing thing….want to do the easy first!
How about adding a grabber.
A real pair of shoes on the sidewalk.
One shoe repaired and one not.
Lots of people suggested this, and I love the idea!!
a) Around 10-15 more walk-ins a day
b) Is there something small he could do for free or very little costs like the freebies and taste tests like they do at the food court?
Hmmmm…..they do shoe shines, I need to ask how that does in terms of getting full shoe restorations.
a) I’ll go big and guess 19 people are coming in per day.
b) I’d say,”Miraculous shoe recovery” instead of “We do miracles on shoes.” Given that the store is called “Austin Shoe Hospital,” I’d want to use a word I’d associate with a good outcome at a hospital.
Lol….I like that!
a) 19
b)I would replace the ad Saturday
and I’d write:
“Just for today”
(to create a sense of urgency and versatility [you can put on any day])
An image of a woman’s shoe with an arrow pointing the heel
Add the words:
“½ Heels ”
“Unlimited”
That’s a good one Hernan!
a) 25x more walk in’s
b) free taco with every order and partner up the deal with local taco dealer yum ;)
Bahahhaha…yumm!
What a great fun experiment Neville:)
don’t know about Austin but here in NSW Australia it can be nearly as expensive to repair as it is to buy new and you still have old shoes – why bother? SO I’d show why repair can be better with something along the line of: “Favourite shoes worn out? New shoes too hard to wear in? We can make your favourite shoes look like new but feel like a treat on your feet. Save pain, time and money! Call in today for a free estimate.” I’d accompany it with an image of a foot pinched in an really uncomfortable stiletto and another before and after but shot from behind, the first of a badly rolled out shoe ie the heel severely worn on one side, the second with it repaired and another before and after with a comfy pair of shoes revamped and looking fabulous.
Thanks Carol!
I’m new to this whole shoe hospital thing, but I saw women coming in with $700+ heels getting them restored to like-new condition for $50 to $75 which seems like a good deal!
a) 11
b) The potential customer’s problem needs to be addressed up front, something like “Your shoes are sick (Not in a good way)”
Hahhaah…..good one :)
Revive Your Feet
With a little First Aid for Your Shoes:)
Nice!
a) 17
b) How about an image of a person wearing their old shoes contrasted with wearing the repaired shoes. I picture myself walking by the sign after a few days looking down at my shoes thinking huh I wonder how much it would cast to fix em up. Oh free estimates cool! :)
Love it :)
Awesome work, Neville!
My guess is 15
And a crazy idea, what if you create a PAIR of sandwich boards, each one with one side of mirror with a sticker says “Did you see what’s happening in your shoes? See other side for answer!” , the other side are the images of your ladies and men’s shoes, with the text says “We fix it for you!” So when people walk by, they will see the mirror side first, they might even raise their shoes as they see the reflection from the mirror, then walk to the other side of the board to see the service of the store:)
A pair of them, so you can flip the mirror side of the board for both-side traffic :)
Oh that’s good Kelly!
A few people have suggested the mirror thing, I like it a lot!
I’ve never “Kopywritten” before, but here it goes.
A) I would say 18
B) I would add a saying like, “Like Obamacare, we are “AFFORDABLE.”” or “Restoration cures Humiliation.”
LOL! Might not get the point we want across, but definitely clever!
A) Twice as many, at least, assuming such good pedestrian traffic, and a growing awareness that “Hey, so my shoes AREN’T disposable? Cool!”
B) The only thing I would add is a colorful arrow pointing at the door, to power up and add immediacy to the “Ask Inside” message.
Great post. cool work.
Yup, I think my call to action was lamer than I originally thought (I should’ve made it much bigger and with an arrow). Good suggestion!
Wow! Lots of good comments here. I’d make a HUGE Cowboy Boot (It’s Texas) and hang it above the front door, to grab attention. And, they might consider handing out a “Motivating” Discount Coupon to passersbys.
When my wife opened her Antique Shoppe some years ago she asked me to watch the shop while she went to an estate auction. I noticed that all those who entered moved around to the right side of the store and when I asked if I could help them find anything…..their response was always, “Nope! Just browsing!”
So…..I went home to my PC at lunch and made up some Discount Coupons. They had “$1” in each of the 4 corners and across the top was;
“BROWSER BUCK”
“Good for $1 off ANY item in the shop!”
Wow! I printed some up on Green Card Stock and cut to the size of a business card…..went back to the shop and everyone who entered I handed a card to and said, “Welcome to our antigue shop…..here’s a dollar off anything here!”
The change was AWESOME! Instead of shoppers just scanning the merchandise…..they NOW were “Seriously Studying Each Item, trying to see WHICH Item they could use the Buck on!
The shoe repair shop could have someone standing outside handing a “Repair Buck” to passerbys (Good for a dollar off any repair!) I’d betcha people would bring by a pair (or 2) of shoes to use the FREE DOLLAR!
Also…..I gave each one who purchased a “BEE-BACK” card…..with a graphic of a Bee and the words, “Good For $10 off ANY future purchase!”
The shoe repair shop could also give their customers a “Bee-Back” card, good towards $X off their next service!”
Oh wow, that’s awesome Don!
I wish you did a case study on that. Very clever, and awesome that it worked!
NevBox-worthy story :)
Hey Don, selected the 3 best comments and you’re one of em! Gonna send you an email shortly :)
A) I think you can easily double the numbers, from 8 to 16+ daily walk-ins.
I sure hope so! Already looking like that :)
They’ll get 10 more walk ins.
Add “Drop ’em off on your way to work. Pick ’em up on your way home.”
Ohh that would be a cool slogan! Unfortunately a lot of the shoes have to go to a central facility first, and take about a week. So might disappoint some people :)
Love this!! I always enjoy sandwich boards that have humor in them…. Maybe can create one like:
“Your boots were made for walking, not talking” and have a before/after of torn boots like dis:
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-old-torn-leather-boots-image10009065
Maybe make an MC Hammer joke in there…. :P
Lol, those are some JACKED UP shoes!!
Hi Nev,
A) 24
B) Focus ad on demographic most likely to walk by wanting shoe repair. For example, women. Then give them a headline e.g. Make Your Favorite Pair of High Heels Like New Again.
Promote favorite High Heel Preservation as well for additional traffic.
Curtis
I asked about this….it’s pretty even men/women apparently.
Hey Nev! I like how you performed CPR on that sandwich board!
I’m curious to see how walk-in rates correlate with your new visual (I will guess you will get 2-4 more people daily with this sign). I think you captured the right idea that people do not understand the service(s) offered. Since this is a billboard, you will have a little extra time to educate the casual observer and the pictures may reach out to the people driving or biking by.
All of my ideas are coming in the form of “clever” writing; may be able to get away with a chalk board sandwich sign (similar to bars).
Disrupt thinking (a la Monty Python reference) – Picture of shoes that say “I’m not dead yet!”
Medical theme: Are your shoes dying? Come inside to see how we can breath life back into your shoes!
Odd: It’s cheaper than you think to heal your sole!
Thanks Travis!
The problem with being “clever” is that not everyone “gets it” right away. That’s why I took the more educational route.
Cleverness for a bar works, because people definitely understand what’s being sold already, so the only differentiating factor they have is clever quips :)
A: 22
B: Let’s go 1998 landing page and slap on some blinking LEDs. Directional arrows and movement would be even better. Simply getting slightly better attention should bump the rest of your conversion.
Hahahah……I think a big-ole arrow pointing at the store would even bump conversion a bit. Agreed!
1. 12/day.
2. Place a woman sitting in high heels outside the shop on a stool.
Lol!
A. 16
B. Actually have some shoes out there to display. For exams take an old worn pair of shoes and only repair ONE of them. Then place both of them outside( somehow attach them so peoe won’t steal them). I believe this will draw even more attention and actually cause people to stop and analyze the shoes
Yup, this has been a recurring suggestion and I LOVE IT!!!
A)I truly believe the sign will bring in 20 or more walk ins a day. There’s a store in my area that would benefit from a sign like this. I discovered it by chance, and they do a great job at repairing shoes.
B)We all have shoes so I’m sure his market is really broad, but what if the ad/sign focuses in on one particular target market. Also as a woman with lots of heels and boots I would love to get a behind the signs look at how the shoes are repaired. :)
Oh wow, I hope it does!
Maybe you could do the same for that store and make a case study out of it!
1. 17
2. One new sign a week adding a name, and hopefully a picture, of a real customer. For instance: “Marianne got THIS for only $75!” and the beauty before and after picture. “Ask inside for yours (and our great special)”
Oh THAT is good!
NevBox-worthy suggestion Gonzalo!
I expect to see 32 walk-ins (4%)
Nice work!
Whoa….32/day! That seems optimistic, but that would be AWESOME!
A.) 12 per day.
B.) Use the store’s or website’s style (color, fonts) on the signs to deliver a consistent brand.
I think 12/day is optimal!
Hey Nev,
A) 13
B) I would take a photo of a close up of the feet of a group of business men standing next to each other talking (wow, that was a lot of prepositions). One guy has ugly, worn out, crappy shoes and the others have nice, fancy, shiny shoes. Then the text can say something to the effect of,
“Shoes damaging your reputation?”
“I’ll get them looking brand new again.”
It’s not super clever, but it plays to psychology with real life situations.
For one side you could have this and the other side could have a group of women following the same concept.
Lol…..very NevBox-worthy suggestion Andrew!
I like that :)
A) I’m going conservatively with 150% (so 12). That’s still remarkable for a small biz.
B) Add some sort of guarantee: “We fix it or it’s free.”
Also, as others have pointed out, a common objection is hassle/time, i.e., “how long is this going to take?”
So perhaps advertising some sort of shoe drop-off/pick-up service as well.
“Get them fixed in just a few minutes, or pick them up later when it’s convenient for you.”
I also like the theme of: “Your friends will never know they’re not new.” Something compelling along that line of persuasion.
Yup….the sign is already performing above that :)
Hmmm, perhaps this time thing should be addressed. It’s come up several times now from several people.
Hmm….I think you’ll get an average of 11 per day. I like conservative estimates because best case scenario is I underestimated the success of the sign.
The way I’d make the sign better is simple- I’d make the before/after pictures attachable by velcro, so I could test the effect of different types of shoes over the span of say…2 weeks. So in a month, the first 2 weeks I might leave the sign as is and track walkins. 2nd half of the month, I might swap out the heels pictures for more specific, easily recognizable designer heels. Next 2 weeks, I’d throw some rare reconditioned Basketball sneakers on there.
Doing it that way would let me optimize what pictures went on the sign.
The other big improvement would be to apply your initial questions to the website, and see if the copy/pictures on there could be improved.
Even going from 8 to 11/day would be awesome for just a little sign.
I’m with you….my hypothesis is the sign would start working best between day 7 and day 21.
a) I’m thinking 13 walk-ins on average
b) Maybe add a line like “NEVER buy the same pair of shoes again!”
That may work :)
I’d wager that you’ll get a small uptick in the short and medium term to maybe 12-13 total (around 50% improvement) and then it will lull back to the rough original of 8-9 after 6 months or so… that’s still a good ROI though.
Why not use a sign that calls attention to a current and overlooked problem and offer an immediate solution? Something like “YOU FEET HURT! COME IN TO IMPROVE YOUR WORN OUT SHOES” on one side and maybe “YOUR SHOES ARE UGLY! COME IN TO MAKE YOUR SHOES LIKE NEW AGAIN” on the other side with a few sample photos (and prices vs. buying new shoes).
I’d also suggest that you tag the board with the website – or maybe http://bit.ly/shoes (or whatever) so that people who are in a hurry can possibly get a mindworm about it.
My $.02
Thanks Mike, I like the suggestions!
B)
I ‘d suggest to improve to answer typical 2 questions come into customer’s mind.
1) How long does it take to repair my shoe?
unless “life threating” time where I have to repair my shoes, i will allow typical quick repair of said 30 min. From the high building around the corner, I guess the “shoe hospital” is in downtown area where I am either rush for meal or transport. Time is a limit for these people.
2) Is worth to repair my shoe?
Customer may afraid the price is high to repair and wonder if the target customers are those who spend a lot for their shoe. If the Ad adress it with keyword like “worth”, “affordable”, “reasonable”, people won’t hesitate to check it out.
Good suggestions Neo!
So far most people haven’t seemed to be too frightened by the time……I think people leave ample time for fixing.
However these might go on the next boards!
The sandwich boards made me want the service.
Good! That’s the point, glad it worked :)
It’s likely that the new signage would increase walkins by 14-15 people per day. I agree with all the great suggestions and would second:
1. Pricing info (If competitive and reasonable). I hate asking prices.
2. Some kind of discount for newbies-25% off first repair.
3 Mention of a loyalty program (maybe show and image of a card with “get a free X# of your shoes)
4. Family discounts
But, with all the new customers generating more cash-in addition to the signage, I would do the following-
Clean up the store. Organize (most shoe repair places are notoriously messy, old school and not particularly inviting).
Once the inside is more inviting (including smelling better) I would invest in a very cheap computer set up to run a video in the window. Get people to the window to see what’s going on inside. Some people are nervous about walking into a place like that where they don’t know what goes on inside-let them see its all ok.
1. SHOW before and after images in living color.
2. Have a couple of 1-2 minute videos showing how to take care of your shoes: shining, using shoe trees, storage etc.
3. Show how to tell what good shoes are. What materials are shoes made from? How long should they last (like tires on a car-we know they should last x thousand miles)
ETC…
Good suggestions Patricia!
I like the pricing stuff. Unfortunately then you have to constantly change those signs, that’s the downside.
But great suggestions!
1) 12 in the next week, perhaps 16 the following
2) the issue is that most people aren’t walking around with their old shoes. What if there was a way for people to drop off the shoes they are wearing now, and wear a borrowed pair of sandals home? Then, when they pick up their shoes, they just return the sandals they borrowed, or if they like the sandals, they pay for that as well?
That sounds reasonable Kathy!
I think the signs will take between 1 and 3 weeks to work fully, because then people WILL bring in their shoes.
Love the signs and how it drives how the value proposition. Call-to-action is great as well.
B) A lot of stores in my neighborhood are chalkboards constantly changing everyday (at least the good ones). Making the boards more dynamic would allow you to change up the messaging. Maybe you have several areas that would allow you to slide in a different images and test which works best for the type of customer walking by. Say there are a lot of hipsters that frequent that street so you test just men’s hipster boots on the one side. This would create something that really relates to the audience. If I saw a shoe that looked like mine I might be more likely to stop by.
You could also asses who the majority of your customers are and appeal to them or try and expand your audience by appealing to a new customer base to increase the walk-ins.
Really enjoy reading these posts. Thanks a lot!
I like the chalkboards too, but I usually don’t go in because of them. I think I first wanted to educate the customer what a shoe hospital does. But then daily specials could be written on a chalkboard, sounds plausible!
A. I’d say 3-5 more customers a day to walk-in.
B. There’s only two ways to get more “random” folks in the door is to have an irresistible offer or get more traffic.
Making an irresistible offer that is easy to access, easily and quickly consumable.
Ideas:
1. How about a Friday shoe shine power hour? Come by before or after lunch to get a quick, free, shoe shine (new customers only)?
2. Make it a one time monthly event where lunch is served so they can come during lunch or maybe even just dessert from Amy’s Ice Cream.
Just some thoughts.
What’s important is making sure there is a mechanism for capturing lead info at the offer/event onsite.
Yo Tonnnaaayy!
Shoe shine power hour! Lol!
A) 17
B) Several things I would want to know as I walk by on my way to work are cost estimates…Quickly show Heel Replacements $40. average Heels Women $35. Resurface $50. Boots dye : $50.
Most shoe repair shops do women’s purses or other leather accessory goods.
Because I pay big bucks sometimes for purses and have my favorite worn out purse from 10 years ago, it would be valuable to me to
pay for a strap repair vs. a new purse, if shoe hospital does this, promote it on sandwich board.
My shoe strap broke and I’m in a wedding this weekend…so how long do repairs take? Can I get it back in 24hours or is it going to take 2 weeks? This would be important to me.
Add a small take one box (for slips of info around 2″ x 5″) make this a price list
* based on in store evaluation, phone number, address, website.
Great NevBox-worthy suggestions Jene!
They do purses also, and it’s not shown. I think this could definitely be the next sign :)
Great write up.
B) my suggestion is more of an add-on to the signs. See if you can get the owner to allow you to take over one of the display windows. Then create a “peep-hole” where people walking by have to get really close to see through the hole into the display. make sure there is a lot of contrast (example black paper with a white circle around that peep hole.)
Inside the hole, you see a more of the examples of turning old shoes into new again. Maybe even have a tv with a video running that shows a time lapse video of the process.
The peep hole concept is mainly one of extreme curiosity, so the sandwich board should be playing up the curiosity. “Oooh… what’s that behind the curtain? —> Look inside, you know you want to” or something of that nature.
Great suggestion Bryan! NevBox-worthy!
They do have a fair amount of window space, and I think a cool display of actual before/after shoes would go well there.
Might suggest to them actually :)
A) 20
B) Get a “topper” to go on top of the sandwich board where you can put that “1/2 price heels on Saturdays” message. Now they can see what the shoe hospital does and it communicates their long-standing promotion keeping the original spirit of the sandwich board intact. I bet heel business on Saturday goes way up.
Yup, their Saturday sales are very high!
My estimate is an initial surge to 18 to 20 walk-ins with various inquiries about services. Then dropping off to 12 to 14 walk-ins after people in the area get use to seeing new signage.
I agree with some of the other above, the project needs a rotating set of signs that would be changed out weekly. Also agree the store’s main signage need a major revamp. Very dated look.
The real question here is can the store owner handle the 25% to 50% increase in business with the shop size that he has and the current level of employees, AND STILL be able to provide the quality of services that he is currently providing.
Good luck with the project.
Yeah we’ll see….my estimate is 7-21 days for the sign to work it’s magic!
Great post Nev,
I actually find this really pertinent and hope to share this with my own DDA and DBA and other local businesses. All of these businesses are thinking “if you build it, they will come” and are putting out sandwhich boards expecting these crappy plastic pieces to magically make customers appear and all I see is ghost towns. I have been wanting to write (or now find) an article that explains its not just the sandwhich board, but the content that makes people read it and ultimately come into the store.
Whale done!
Good! Show this to them, it’ll be super helpful!
Tell them to hit me up if they need help:
https://copywritingcourse.com/secret
A) Double to tripple and then settling on 14-15
B) There is a Teddy Bear Hospital in my town. Which always brings a smile on my face any time I pass by.
Maybe something out of left field like “We are just like the Teddy Bear Hospital but we revive your shoes”. More people would relate to Teddy Bears so as a pattern interrupt it is richer.
Related – a whole series of Teddy Bears repairing shoes can be made but that will require artistic/cartoonist skills.
Another angle could be – You’ve worn them out nicely, they are finally fitting you like second skin, do you really want to throw them away?
Related -What is the price of comfort ?
Another angle – If they can add some cheap posture analysis based on how shoes are worn out. Or periodically have an expert who visits offering that service.
Another – We teach you how to PROPERLY look after your shoes … Some leaflet is given … Or better, encourage people to bring the shoes so they are taught and shown on the spot. And sold extra relevant products.
(A buddy of mine, who consults a multinational making shoe polishing and related products, on seeing me with new shoes the other day, handed me a bottle of waterproofing product and the special brush for applying it. I love it when he does this ! )
Related – Seasonal shoe care advice … Relevant humours messages too – Don’t let your shoes get the flu this winter. Or Our Shoe Flu Vaccine is loved by 9 out of 10 shoe pairs we have interviewed ;-)
Lol….clever suggestions!
I actually think for the Shoe Hospital the more direct value is good enough for now, however maybe in the future some crazier tests will be performed :)
B) Instead of the call-to-action of the sign to go inside the store and ask about “what they do,” generate a favorable expectation for the potential customer to try them out by offering a lower rate for their first pair of shoes.
Keep the before and after, because visually it’s powerful and it describes exactly what they do. Then, add:
Something like, “We’ll repair your first pair for 50% Off”
He actually has a “1/2 priced heels” sign out in conjunction with the signs I made. He says it works pretty well!
B) Your target customer’s eyes are scanning a million things while walking down the sidewalk. So the signboard is competing with tons of things as they walk and text and talk and daydream. 2 ideas one for the signboard and one alternative (still cheap) advertisement :
1. Since your dawesome at photoshop, do a pattern interrupt type image, with the full length of the signboard. Two legs side by side, one man’s leg and one woman’s leg. But the catch is that the woman’s leg is fitted with a big clunky stereotypical man’s shoe. And the man’s leg is fitted with a slender sexy stereotypical woman’s shoe. With the text of “Austin Shoe Hospital – Do your feet feel like this? Come inside and let us help your feet” Maybe it’d be better to have two signs, one with just mens legs and another with womans legs, and have one on each side of the store front.
2. Second idea (you didn’t ask for, but I like brainstorming) Create a 6 foot long wooden walkway platform. It would have sides and rails with the walking area covered in some soft cushiony material (maybe carpet padding), but it could be placed right in front of the store and produced for pretty cheap. It would invite passerby’s to sign a petition to upgrade the sidewalks of Austin. Go way over the top and proclaim, “Help us cover Austin’s hard concrete sidewalks in soft cushiony padding” “Together we can make walking comfortable again”, or “Since Austin was founded in 1893 (?) man and woman have been subjected to walking in discomfort, help us end sore feet in this city” The display would invite passerby to try out the walk way and then sign the petition to cover every sidewalk in padding. And then very loudly and sarcastically announce “Or come inside and let us fix and upgrade your shoes so every step is a step in comfort” The idea would be to catch their attention & break their eyes from the routine of passing by yet another store or sidewalk display board
3. One more idea. Back to the sidewalk display board. “Do you suffer from SFS? 89.7% of Austinites suffer from Sore Feet Syndrome (we made that up). Come in today and let us give you a free estimate on a shoe repair in under 10 minutes. Neville Medhora who is not a doctor, but has watched a lot of Scrubs, Doogie Howser, and a few Grey’s Anatomy (his girlfriend made him); recommends Austin Shoe Hospital to give your feet the relief they deserve.”
Bahahahah, great suggestions Ed!
Some of them sound almost a little overboard, but I like the creativity. For now will stick with basic signs, but no doubt some of this stuff could work :)
A) I’m gonna go with 15.
B) Give them a call to action like “Look down!, Do your shoes look like this or this” with arrows pointing to A and B on the this/this. You’d not only see people looking at the sign, but looking down to their shoes (taking action). If my shoes looked crappy, I might walk right in.
Also, I wonder if the shop owner could get some really cheap throwaway flip flops and also add “leave your shoes here! We won’t send you home barefoot!”
Ohh I like this. Make them take a glance at their shoes to get them thinking about it. Nice one Jay!!
How about some “while you wait” action? And a mirror to let them see their shoes.
A MIRROR!!! That is super clever :)
NevBox-worthy suggestion Bob!
I’m going to go with 15 for now, but I imagine that would even increase over time, with the examples on the signs being freshened up periodically. This was so nice of you to do for this shop owner. There are some interested comments already here. I’d say some of them could be incorporated into print ads or inserts, but I think the street sign is best as is. People can take the whole of it in as they walk past.
Good guess Mindy….I think that’s super possible.
First, off the copy-writing is definitely better. But, I’m gonna play devil’s advocate here and say there won’t be that much effect. Maybe from 8 to 10/day.
I just don’t believe showing the bottom of shoes has that much effect. After a couple days of walking around on the new soles they will look exactly like the old soles. Do people really look at the soles of their shoes and get grossed out if they are scuffed? I feel like more pictures like the pink high heels at the bottom of the first board would be more powerful.
Hmmmm, already the averages are beating that!
Hi, Neville,
I love this experiment (plus I think you are a good person for helping this dude).
A) 17 as conservative estimate; I bet those walk-ins will be more likely to buy though (the service)
B) A few suggestions:
1. Clean the sign that says SHOE HOSPITAL above the store; it looks grungy and makes me think, Eww. Easy fix.
2. Featuring boots (repaired, polished, re-dyed) is great in a city like Austin. I think that is a winner.
3. I would show at least one example of a hole in a shoe (or a REALLY worn sole) — maybe on a boot. Because cosmetic fixes are nice — I can do most myself. But repairing a SOLE is a pro’s job; and I would come in for that if they were my favorite shoes. (I LOVE the images). I think they would need to be changed up now and then so that people continue to stop and look — especially the regulars.
Aww thanks Amy!
I got a good case study, they got some increase in customers!
And yes, I think the other signs should be cleaned to make em look nicer, but never thought of it till you mentioned.
NevBox-worthy comment Amy!
Hey Amy, selected the 3 best comments and you’re one of em! Gonna send you an email shortly :)
Thanks, Neville! I am excited to receive my NevBox is the mail. You totally made my day!
A) 18
B) Improve it by saying something like “Never be ashamed of your shoes again” come in for a fast visit… Maybe put some prospect shoes out there so they can relate….. I think people are self concious about their shoes so that will help..
18, nice!
A. 18 ish
B. Add a seasonal element. It was just the first day out fall. “Repair your fall shoes now and they’ll be better than new”
*Pictures of boots, etc
Also, some shoe hospitals do belts and purses, too – though that would be better for a second sign
Good ideas Joey!
Prior to reading your estimates of 15, which is almost doubling traffic, I was thinking that 12-13 per day was a good goal.
The reason I thought this is that I am on Chapter 17 of the Boron Letters (I printed them out like you said!) and I remember an earlier chapter talked about targeting your audience to get a better response rate.
The street sign doesn’t target previous customers, nor people who have purchased similar items recently, frequently, or necessarily at a higher price point. The signs are targeting, well everyone who walks by.
So I think to increase from 8 to 13 ( about 60% daily increase) is really good and achievable.
I think 12 or 13 is good also. Very realistic (and is already happening)!
P.S. Boron Letters kick ass :)
B) You have 2 designs, but from the pics it looks like you put them both on one sandwich board. Put one sign on both sides of the board and get rid of the old sign so you can have a real A/B experiment. Give the first design say, 2 weeks, because the new information will probably create latent demand as people walk by, realize the service, and bring their shoes in a week later. Then put up the other design for two weeks and compare the results. For both signs, ask people who came in why they came in and what they thought about the sign, and use it for your next iteration of A/B designs.
Have fun!
It’s funny, people actually stop to look at the sign, then checkout the other side.
It seems to be working really well like that!
So, first timer here, also relatively new to copy writing, so bear with me! I think the sign will bring in around 50% more traffic, so 12 people (up from 8). The design of the sign seems to be a claim (“we do miracles”), some examples of said miracles, and then a call to action. Personally, I might start with a question, like “Got bad shoes?”, give a few pictures of ruined shoes, then put a CTA like “we can help” with a image of a single repaired shoe. Get people’s curiosity going.
A more minimalist example would just be “Got bad shoes?”, a single image of a ruined shoe, and the claim and CTA at the bottom of “We can help. Inquire inside”.
I think that sounds just about right :)
I really like the “Got bad shoes” suggestion! NevBox-worthy answer. Not bad for a first-timer!!
A) 16
B) The first thing I noticed the sign needed was a big clear arrow pointing into the store. I realize most people understand the board is meant for the store it’s In front of, but an arrow will remove any tiny doubt. It’s all about removing any possible friction between seeing the sign and wanting to go into the store, right?
A nice double conversion I hope!
I think the next signs will have a strong call to get people IN the store.
Loved this experiment! Big improvement for sure. I would add a little more splash of color, especially for the headline. Also, since the posters weren’t too pricey, I would change them out every one to two weeks so people who walk by regularly may notice one sign more than another or “re-notice” the signs again.
Another idea is some verbiage like: “Worn out shoes can ruin your whole outfit…we can fix that!” Followed of course with images.
Great stuff!
Yeah we’re thinking of making some more signs, would be fun to test!
How about pictures of the other types of repairs they do such as, luggage, gloves, zippers or even roller or ice skates if they repair the body of those as well.
This way they can more easily attract a much wider scope of customers and maybe even capture the local workers.
Example being that maybe a passerby doesn’t care to repair shoes but the baseball glove or a skate can be much more appealing and appreciated. I think many people would prefer to repair a type of equipment over a shoe unless the shoe is special.
I think this would really work and would even bet on it.
Hmmmm, that’s interesting.
Actually on one of the boards I wrote “We even dye shoes” to educate people that’s a service (I had no idea that was even possible).
Not sure if they do much else outside of shoes though.
I wasn’t sure if they do either but I took the chance of looking for the store name online and found a website. Don’t know if it’s theirs but it seems part of a small chain of shops that does do some types of repairs other than shoes.
I may be wrong though because I don’t know if it is their web site or even the correct store.
Loved the post!
A. I am thinking that their walk in traffic will at least double to 16 per day!
B. Why not have a before shoe and after shoe mounted on top of the sidewalk sign, (with poles maybe?). I think people can get grossed out by old shoes and just not want to deal with them, but if they see a crappy shoe before and then the fixed up shoe right there next to it in real life they may be inspired to deal with that pair of shoes they’ve been hiding in their closet, and actually walk in and become a new customer!
You could also do a Halloween themed sign about “Resurrecting the Dead” with the before (Tombstones) and after photos.
16 would be a great goal!
Yup, this was suggested above..and I LOVE IT! Having some real-life shoes would be really great.
Hi
For sure traffic will double – but why stop there?
Take a page from the great Les Schwab
(his book “Pride in Perfection is GREAT) and advertise
we fix all heels (flats) for FREE. The unreal benefits and payback
are outlined in the book and seen every day at any Les Schwab
tire store. ALSO – ADD “All work guaranteed”
Hmmm……I’m curious how a “free” offer would work. It’ll def bring in more people, but not sure about the QUALITY of those customers.
Would be worth testing!
44 per day.
WOW, marvelous boards Neville! :))
And the guy didn’t know anything about your fab initiative?
I take my hat off to you! :)
Cheers,
Ivy
I was glad to help them out! A fun case study for me, and more customers for them!
A- I think it will take awhile to increase traffic, as most people chuck dead shoes, or if they have them, repeatedly forget to bring them with them (that’s assuming it is mostly work foot traffic). So I’ll pick 12.
B- having had work done on shoes before, a “repairs starting from $X” would be important to me. I’ve had quotes for work before that have been equal to the cost of the shoes, so not really worth it to me if I didn’t love them. Someone else mentioned “save your fav pair of shoes” and that has massive appeal, I would think to many people, not just me.
Even 12/day is a nice boost!
Looks like the “favorite pair of shoes” thing seems to really hit a chord with a lot of people. Might give that one a try!
Very cool.
B) To attract those people that walk by once or twice every day, a different sign for each day of the week, each targeting a different audience. That way it showcases variety yet also hits a specific audience at least once a week. Ex. for mothers, a before and after of a her child’s shoes, and some punchy copy about preserving memories; or for the athlete, lucky sneakers
Yeah I’m thinking a few more signs could really optimize for more walk-in’s.
B) Put something like: We’ll revive your dead shoes.
I’m sure people can relate to “dead shoes” haha I know I have some.
Your comment reminded me of a sign I saw on my way to work – another shoe repair place that read: “We save soles! Wake your shoes from the dead!”
Good thinking……it goes well with the “shoe hospital” connotation!
To flesh out the hospital metaphor, instead of before and after you could use “sick” and “healthy”. Or “Before seeing the Dr. ” and “After seeing the dr. ” Shoe shines could be the Dr.’s “prescription”. “a shine a day keeps the dr away!” And on and on.
A) 32 (4x) going from no good copy to great copy will always works miracles
B) add a money back guarantee –“Love it or your money back”
Thanks Bill!
a) Assuming 800 walk-by’s per day, I estimate the conversion rate to increase from the current 1% to 5%. So that means 40 walk-in’s per day with the new sign.
b) I see 2 possible angles:
1. Sell itself on a fast turnaround for the office crowd. For example, “Get your broken shoes fixed within your 30-minute lunch break, or your money back”
2. Position itself as a high end luxury shoe maintenance. For example, “Give your Jimmy Choo’s some regular TLC to make them look brand new. Shoe spa for heels. Inquire inside.
Wow, 40 would be great. I still think it’ll be less than that, but if ALL the signs were optimized, it’s possible!
Will probably double the walk-ins, honestly.
They could throw a big old USP out there.
How they differ from the crowd or….
“Don’t go spend all that money on new shoes … We make your shoes look way better for a fraction of the money”
You get the idea.
Also, this is kind of quirky but they should put a pile of old shoes out with a tombstone. Kind of a shoe graveyard. The tombstone could read: we coulda been saved but no one took us to the hospital. Or something clever like that.
Just to get more eyeballz on the store.
Great post! Look forward to the updates!
This is a winner right here. I was going to offer similar ideas, particularly stressing the value point.
Especially since Halloween is coming up! And they could extend it even further with jokes about shoes and turkeys for Thanksgiving or Elf shoes losing their jingle at Christmas…….oh, I can’t stop!!! What about bunny slippers at Easter and Dutch clogs on the first day of Spring….:)
Definitely a winner :)
OMG!!! A shoe graveyard!!!
I never thought about putting REAL LIFE SHOES outside…..that could totally work.
Definitely a NevBox-worthy suggestion Jesse!
Hey Jesse, selected the 3 best comments and you’re one of em! Gonna send you an email shortly :)
Hi Nev,
A. 17
B. I might have added an additional image with some “Nike Air” sort of shoe to also try to attract younger.
BTW, this is a really great real life example ! When I read the first part of your article 2 days ago I though I would not stop to this shop for sure. Then when I saw the sign you made, I figured out this was because I did not understand what they could do for me, which is much clearer now. Well done. Guy, there are lots of street businesses that would deserve you walk by and help them figuring out what they can improve. Great new “KopyStreet” business ? :)
Yeah I should’ve put some sneaker before/after photos.
Glad that simply seeing the posters got you more curious about the store, guess they worked well :)
A) 13
B) ouch, Gareth was faster. I’d definitely add a direct benefit sign. I’d cut off some of those and only let, say, first two examples there and add smth like “dont let your shoes die(they call themselves hospital so lets stick to the story), save up to XXX $!”
Or even better – let your shoes live and save up to XXX$
3rd option – “long live your shoes! Save up to XXX$
I’d also try to hand out flyers like 300ft down the road to see what happens, or another sign (I guess bilion flyers are kinda costly)
13 would even be good….any extra daily walk-ins just for sticking out a sign is good.
I like the “Don’t let your shoes die!”
17 new walk ins daily.
A call to action special for the first time visitor. 1/2 price on your first service with us, come in and see what we can do for you now
17 sounds plausible.
They had a 1/2 priced sign also, and it works well. They left both signs out, and it seems to be a winning combination.
1.) 29
2.) WHAT ARE THOOOSEEE?! In Bold big writing at the top… Grabs attention, uses popular internet video, laughs all round, those shoe hospital guys are funny. Im’a give them my money.
Damn, 29 a day! That would be amazing.
A) My guess would be fewer than 15 but more than 8 as I imagine the shop has been there for years. I’d be surprised if mist people are already aware of it and what it does but just don’t need shoes repairing that often, thus the random walk ins.
Anyway, I hope you prove me wrong, I’d love to see 15+ going in off the back of the sign.
It’s already panning out pretty damn well!
I’m going to guess that it will improve traffic by 100% for the short-term, (therefore 16+ total walk-ins per day), and then level off to a 25% increase once the walk-by traffic gets used to seeing the sign after the next couple of months. (12 total walk-ins).
In any case, I think there is huge value in this type of marketing and advertising. It’s a low-cost way to improve “conversions”. The saying “small hinges swing big doors” is a perfect example of what you’re doing here.
I hope to get updates to this marketing experiment of yours. It would be cool to see you do other similar case studies of more businesses in the local area.
I would agree and say that’s very plausible.
The total cost of this was only $156….and just 4 more walk-in’s per day will easily beat that.
1) I’d say around 18 walk ins
Man….I hope so!
A) 16, I reckon you will double your traffic for sure. But still, it’s such a service that I personally would only go there if I knew a.) I had shoes to fix and b.) I could google it and it was the closest, best, cheapest, in my local area.
B) Maybe offer a quick, easy, and cheap shoe shine service for people on a lunch break, before or after work, or for a special occasion. A quick shoe shine hustle is something I would definitely just “walk in” for if I saw it on a sign.
Nice, I hope we hit 16/day!
They actually DO have a full-time shoe-shine guy on site, perhaps a better sign would bring more people in for that too.
Why not move the shoe-shine guy outside? It gives passersby an additional reason to look at the storefront, while simultaneously increasing their revenue from shoe-shining. Additionally, the shoe-shiner can become a sort of salesman by up-selling his customers, or by directing pedestrians into the store.
Choosing a proper layout would be important to make sure that the new signage isn’t lost behind the shoe-shiner. Also, I’m sure the guy wouldn’t want to be outside all day, so having him out there for the morning, lunch and afternoon rush should suffice.
Any who, keep up the good work, Neville.
A) i’m gonna go with conservative 12
B) i think the sign can be improved by showing before/after pics of whole shoes, rather then emphasising the bottom. How often do people look at the bottom of their shoes? Maybe some of mine look just like those before pics, but I simply don’t know. I mostly care about how they look on my feet. So maybe put in more pictures like the pink high heel and the dyed boots.
Even boosting business by 4 walk-in’s a day is still great!
Hmmm….I think I used a lot of bottom photos because from far you can see the different better.
Perhaps I’ll get some better before/after pics for future signs.
I work in NYC, so I’m a repeat shoe repair customer. I will replace the soles 3-4X or more before I will consider buying new shoes. And women constantly come in to fix their heels on their high heel shoes.
I think the bottom of the shoes is the most important pic, because that’s what 80-90% of customers come in for.
But maybe fewer pics and list more benefits:
– heels replaced while U wait.
– free shine with each repair
– same day service
Also, I will only take my shoes to shoe repair that will replace the whole heel, not just the front half that’s worn out. It may be cheaper, but it’s bad shoe karma. But IDK if that would fit on a sandwich board.
But Neville, great ideas with your new signs!
Thanks Paul! And appreciate the feedback, I didn’t realize so many people come in to replace the bottoms of the shoe.
In that case, I would definitely even make a whole Sandwich Board sign showcase before/after of just bottoms of shoes.
B) I’d suggest a direct benefit approach, perhaps referencing financials. Why pay XXX for new shoes when your old ones can be as good as the day they were born for XX. (I don’t know how much shoe repair costs, but it’s an idea, LOL!)
So it takes the “finally telling people what we do” concept, and adds on a direct benefit of the business.
Would take some more designing to fit in properly, though… and perhaps not worth making TOO many signs based on suggestions…
Or you’ll end up with a total misery of a split-test going on! :D
How surprised was the business owner when you rocked on up there and said “I wanna make your sign better”?
WOW…..NevBox-worthy suggestion Gareth!
I think a comparison of some nice heels (but scuffed up) with a $700 price tag on it….and then an after pic of what a $75 re-do of those shoes can do.
The business owner at first was intrigued, but not sure if I’d actually go through with it. A few days later I walk in with the signs, they LOVED them!
Hey Nev,
I really enjoyed this post. I think one of the biggest takeaways here is just how important images can be. And I love the “before and after” concept you’ve got going on here.
My suggestion would be to get to take over the other sign that’s still there, use the same approach and copy but have one sign with women’s shoe examples on it and one sign with men’s shoes on it.
That way you will grab the attention of men and women much more rather than mixing the two on one sign.
Keep rocking it!
Dan
YES…..there’s like 6 signs for this shoe hospital, and most suck. A re-fresher to those could start bringing in 20+ walk-in’s per day.
Outside of business hours, people won’t see the sandwich board, so they are missing out!
I’m in platonic like with these experiments. Power washing story was great!
A) Rough guess: 13
B) I would think how much more value can the owner do for the by walkers. It could be something in the way:
“Nick (owner) can show you have to polish your shoe to mirror the moonlight in 2 minutes”
That’s a brilliant idea.
Get them in the door to quickly learn how to shine their shoes to perfection in just two minutes! :)
I was thinking a quick two minute shoe shine for free would be an awesome offer to get folks in the door, capture their contact info and make them repeat customers.
Tony
@Dejan’s idea made me think of including a picture of ‘Nick’ (owner) handing over a couple of pairs of shoes on the sandwich board and instead of a bunch of examples, just focusing on owner and ‘non-descript’ shoes, but ones you can identify with … so you would see something like this image but with adult shoes (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/image-96287180/stock-photo-man-holding-old-worn-white-baby-shoes-in-his-hands) — the point is that you’re focused on the shoes and owner’s ‘working’ and capable hands. The photo could have a soft diffusion around owner’s face so focus is on shoes and hands. And copy would say something like, ‘Come inside for a couple of minutes, and let Nick show you why eventually, everyone takes their shoes off in here.’ I’ll be happy to do the photo shoot! ;-)
Lol….nice clever line!
I like these in-field experiments too!
B.) Drop the FREE bomb! “Free estimates” (even though the company likely already does that…) would change the game for sure.
This was what I tried to do with the “Ask inside what we can do!” …..in the next versions I may make this more prominent!
1) Smth around 25.
2) We can add 2 or 4 A4 folders made from plexiglass or some other plastic, and change pictures of before/after say every week, exhibiting fresh works ;) so it will always grab notice even of those people who’ve already seen the sign for a few times. They can be glued to the sign so they’ll cover roughly 1/2 of it, and the rest will be yours “we do miracle with old shoes” or smth alike ;)
Hmmm….a changeable sign, that sounds like a good idea actually!
For sure it is! It will combat banner blindness.
Great idea! stealing it for the hair salon client ;)
Ha. I was gonna do same thing for my fathers barbershop business
I want to apply the methods here to see how much business increase we can see
Going biggerish.. answering both
A) 19
B) Have something about “saving” their favorite pair(s) of shoes. I know it’s largely implied by the before/after, but adding something to this effect could fire extra brain cells that have them thinking about specific pairs of shoes to do this with. Add-on, not replacement for before/after.
Yes! I like the something along the lines of “Save your favorite pair of shoes” or similar.
I had a $250 pair of shoes that’ve been wearing down, and I gladly plunked down $50 to have them fully re-done. Great deal.
And when you consider many women have heels that are $500+ ….a little refresher to keep them looking good isn’t out of the question!
The shoes you LOVED and wore out? Bring them back from the dead!
“Don’t throw away expensive shoes! Let us restore them!” Come inside and consult the Shoe Doctor —->
Also why not fix the other sign?
LADIES!
Closet full of expensive worn shoes?
Give your favorite heels life again!
Saturday Special!
50% off ALL Ladies heel repair!
No Limit!
One month has passed. Would enjoy seeing the numbers. How did the hospital do?
Back from the dead makes me think…. (pic of old shoes – the Walking Dead LOL)
1. Having those signs hanging above the doorway on each side of the Shoe Dr. sign… so that cars driving by can glance over and notice.
2. Putting those images into a newspaper ad…but perhaps he already does so.
“Put the heart and sole back into your fave shoes! Our service is a perfect fit!”
If these signs were placed in areas where women frequent, they would get more sales. Women break more heels on their shoes than men. Just a thought.
Yes, I was thinking putting signs in more places than just outside the store with a QR code that they can scan to be taken to an optin page for a coupon and the location info and open hours maybe.
That way they can capture email addresses and do nurture marketing to potential customers over and over because once I got home I’d likely forget.
Maybe they would be open to having people send them their shoes for repair and sending them back so they could expand outside their local market too.